ENG vs IND: It Was Fantastic From Rohit Sharma To Counterattack The Short Balls - Mohammad Kaif

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif appreciated Rohit Sharma for exceedingly playing well against the short balls in the first ODI match against England. India thumped Jos Butter and his men by 10 wickets to take a 1-0 lead at The Oval in London.

After Indian bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah’s excellence consigned England to 110 all out, Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan took 18.4 overs to see off the minuscule target with an unbeaten 114-run stand.

Rohit Sharma scored 76* vs England in 1st ODI

Rohit, who was going through a lean patch with the willow, smashed six fours and five sixes in his 55-ball 76 at a strike rate of 131.03. The Indian skipper brought up his signature pull shot on numerous occasions.

England’s pace attack comprising David Willey, Reece Topley and Craig Overton tempted the Indian opener with a barrage of short balls. All that Hitman did was dispatched those balls either in the stands or pushed them over the boundary line.

Rohit Sharma said that it is his shot: Mohammad Kaif

Kaif said England bowlers wanted Rohit to commit an error while playing the pull shot, but the Indian captain had a clear mindset while executing his best shot in the game.

“There was a question mark about the pull shot in between, that he was getting out a lot, getting dismissed off bouncers in Test matches, that he can leave it, why is he hitting and getting out,” Kaif said on Sony Sports Network.

“But Rohit Sharma said that it is his shot, he has scored a lot of runs with that and that he will not leave playing the pull shot. So this shows the batter’s clear mind. It is fine if he is getting out, but he is getting a lot of runs with that, which he showed today. 

“It is his shot, got dismissed with that in between quite a few times and England thought it is his weakness. They bowled a lot of short balls today because they felt that he is probably getting stuck these days but the counterattack he did against the short ball today, it was fantastic,” Kaif added.

Rohit became the first player from the country to hit 250 sixes in ODIs. MS Dhoni (229) is the only other Indian player to smash more than 200 sixes in the format.

Rohit is fourth on the list of most sixes in the 50-over format with former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi leading the charts with 351 sixes. West Indies swashbuckling batter Chris Gayle (331) and Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya (270) are the only players ahead of Rohit in hitting more maximums in the format.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: “It Was Going To Happen That He Will Just Smash The Opposition Into Pieces” – Aakash Chopra Lauds Rohit Sharma